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Phantoms look for increased scoring
By Tom Williams
YOUNGstown
Despite a rough expansion season where on-ice performance fizzled after Christmas and attendance fell short of a projected goal, Youngstown Phantoms president Alex Zoldan said his USHL hockey team will return for another season at the Covelli Centre.
“The questions I got at the end of the year — are you coming back next year? — it shocked me a little bit but of course we are coming back,” Zoldan said Wednesday. “We’re here for good.”
In their first season in the country’s top league for junior hockey, the Phantoms were a .500 club at the end of December and in contention for one of the East Division’s four playoff berths.
Then the Phantoms were afflicted with a scoring drought that produced just three wins from Dec. 31 to March 6, a span of 25 games.
The Phantoms won 20 games, lost 36 and lost four more in overtime to finish with 44 points for seventh place in the East Division. They were 20 points behind fourth-place Waterloo.
The skid cost coach and general manager Bob Mainhardt his job on Feb. 17.
Asked if that was the toughest moment of the season, Zoldan replied, “No question. Bob Mainhardt is still a very good friend of mine. I think Bob is a good coach ... [but] Bob was with our organization seven years. Seven years with an organization is a long time no matter what level of sports.”
The Phantoms promoted Curtis Carr, Mainhardt’s assistant coach for four seasons. Last week, Zoldan removed the interim tag from Carr’s position.
The Phantoms went 5-5 in their final 10 games.
“I think [Carr’s] system was finally catching [on],” said Zoldan who said he received hundreds of resumes, phone calls and e-mails inquiring about the job when Mainhardt was dismissed.
“I looked but ... I like Curt Carr’s abilities,” Zoldan said.
Carr’s challenge this offseason will be to find players who can excel on special teams, a huge problem for the Phantoms in their expansion season.
In the 14-team USHL, the Phantoms finished 12th in power-play goals (41 in 292 chances) and 13th in penalty killing (85 goals allowed in 397 opportunities). The Phantoms were shorthanded a lot (45 times more than Waterloo) and led the USHL with 16 shorthanded goals.
Forward Jefferson Dahl led the Phantoms in scoring with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 56 games. Brett Gensler (16 goals, 17 assists) and Taylor Holstrom (11 goals, 22 assists) tied for second with 33 points, and Tom Serratore finished with 32.
Goaltender Jordan Tibbett, the only member of the 2008-09 Mahoning Valley Phantoms of the North American Hockey League to play for the USHL Phantoms, posted an 11-9-1 record and a goals-against average of 3.68.
Matthew Mahalak played in 31 games, finishing with a record of 9-17-3 and a GAA of 4.24.
About a third of the Phantoms have college commitments for the fall, including Dahl (Wisconsin), Serratore (Minnesota), Holstrom (Mercyhurst), team captain and defenseman David Donnellan (Western Michigan) and defenseman Luke Eibler (Northeastern).
Zoldan learned as the season progressed just how big the gap is between veterans and rookies. That’s why he expects the Phantoms who return for a second USHL season to show improvement.
“I didn’t realize how much experience alone helps these players,” Zoldan said. “I look at guys on our team who scored [few] goals in prior years and this year they were our leading scorers ... as they adjusted to the speed.
“That’s the reason I believe they were going to be extremely, extremely good next year. I think we are going to compete for the [Clark] Cup.”
At the gate, the Phantoms played before 53,845 fans (an average of 1,724 per game). When owner Bruce Zoldan and USHL commissioner Skip Prince announced the creation of Youngstown’s USHL team in spring 2009, an average of 2,500 fans was deemed possible.
Alex Zoldan said attendance improved once the high school football playoffs ended last fall.
“I don’t see why we can’t have 2,500 a game as [soon] as next season,” Zoldan said.